I love ferns.
I never thought about having them in my garden until we built our house in the woods. Now they are our very close friends!
For me, ferns evoke memories of quiet walks through the misty woodlands of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Up there, the cool, moist forest floor is covered with an abundance of different kinds of ferns. At our house, there is a wooded “swale” that we have nurtured as a natural woodland garden where azaleas, ferns, hosta, and wildflowers abound – but the ferns are the highlight. Their great diversity in foliage is a wonderful compliment to the large-leaved hosta, Polygonatum, native hollies and, of course, the huge oak and hickory trees.
The fiddleheads are one of the cooler stages of fern growth. In the early spring, the emergence of these fascinating fiddleheads provides additional interest in the garden. Seeing how these tightly coiled packages unfurl into delicate fronds is certainly an amazing thing!
Ferns have now become so popular that every year new and even more exciting cultivars are being developed. Why?
Because they provide a beautiful natural look in the garden! They’re awesome! Their leaves vary in color and texture from the delicate, lacy fronds of Ghost Fern and Japanese Painted Fern to the bold, leathery, deep green fronds of Christmas Fern and Tassel Fern.
Cinnamon ferns are fun because they have the interesting fertile fronds that poke up from the center of the clump like big cinnamon sticks – hence the name. They are large and bold and make quite a statement in the garden.
Another one of my favorites is the Japanese Painted Fern. Andre’s father, Martin Viette, actually introduced this fern into the nursery trade from the gardens of Alex Summers on Long Island. It is a delightful fern with bright silver, red, and green variegation. I have some planted around a beautiful Japanese maple – talk about a striking combination!
I mentioned Ghost Fern before – that’s another neat one. It’s a hybrid of Japanese Painted Fern and Lady-fern with silvery pale green fronds – stunning. That would be awesome with a Japanese maple backdrop or planted among some of the red leaved Heuchera cultivars! Oooooo, I think I’ll plant that combination this summer!
And how cool is Maidenhair fern with its graceful spiral fronds! It looks so delicate in the garden with bright green foliage swirling around on dark stems – an amazing splash of texture to the woodland garden.
You gotta get some ferns!
Until next time, Happy Gardening – with ferns!